


All's Fair

by Dvsharpie



Series: The Chronicles of El [3]
Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Badass, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexual Male Character, Blood, F/M, Mercenary Lucio (The Arcana), Mild Smut, Novella, POV Third Person, Possessive Behavior, Pre-Canon, Romance, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-18 17:20:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17585072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dvsharpie/pseuds/Dvsharpie
Summary: The apprentice's past working with Lucio, told in four parts. Third person. No prior reading is needed.





	1. The Trio of Mercenaries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew returns from a winter battle. They have to make a little fuss to get their reward.

That winter was especially cold, but nothing stopped a victory parade.

The ragtag crew was returning from a successful assignment, eager to receive their handsome pay. Behind the mercenaries were the soldiers they were tasked with leading and training. Only a few months ago, they were unorganized and weak. Now, they were a well-oiled machine under the captain’s strict leadership. 

Eleanor rode at the captain's right-hand, quiet and watchful. She had been riding with the captain since she a teenager, talented but untrained, fending for herself in the ancient forest. There was fearsome red paint on her face, in the same pattern as the captain’s. Normally she would be invigorated, but today her sterling armor seemed a little less lustrous. 

“Ellie, why so quiet?” The captain demanded, ego fed by the cheering crowd. “We should be celebrating!” He beamed and waved to the townspeople.

“I still have a bad feeling about the lordling,” Eleanor replied. She and the captain spoke the same native tongue, but her Vesuvian was much weaker than his. He insisted that she kept speaking it, for practice. “I don’t think we’ll be so easily forgiven,” she went on.

“Chin up! How about this,” he turned towards the crowd. “Hura for Eleanor the mighty! Hura!”

Eleanor couldn’t help but smile as the crowd bellowed, “Hura! Hura!”

“You’re embarrassing!” she laughed, spirits lifting. 

“Embarrassing? I’m a showman Ellie, the people love a show. Hura!”

Not to be outdone, Eleanor raised her staff in the air and stood up in her stirrups. “Now for our fearless Leader, Captain Lucio!”

The noise was even louder as people stomped their feet. Lucio threw his arms open wide, taking it all in. “What a team we are, we cast-out tribesmen,” he told Eleanor, “The whole world is ours!”

Under Lucio’s praise, Eleanor thrived like a plant in sunlight. It was Lucio who helped Eleanor hone her skills, to develop technique and precision. He was a decade her senior, but it didn’t feel like the experience gap it once did. 

From Lucio’s left, someone cleared their throat. 

“And Jules, of course,” Lucio laughed, “My trusted physician.”

“I’m hurt, truly,” Julian sniffled. 

“I’ll make it up to you later,” Lucio replied with a wink. He and Eleanor shared their taste in men, she supposed. When Eleanor first join Lucio’s crew, her crush on Julian was unbearable. She got over it eventually, though she still had a weakness for those auburn waves.

Julian laughed, but couldn’t hide his blush. He was so easy to tease.

Once the crew arrived at the Chieftain's long house, set on a hill above the village, a servant came out to handle the horses. The chieftain, wearing an impressive beard, was waiting outside. 

“Chief, I’m sure you’re pleased with my work,” Lucio called as he approached. “It’s time we discussed payment.”

“Of course,” the Chieftain replied. “Come inside, we’ll talk.”

“Jules, be a doll and watch the horses, would you?” Lucio said. “Shouldn’t take too long.”

Julian grimaced, but obeyed all the same. He leaned against a wooden support and cast his dark eyes over the town below, watching for trouble. The other mercenaries were already heading for the nearest bar. Lucio and Eleanor entered the long house. 

“No need to get right to business,” Lucio said, throwing an arm around Eleanor’s welcoming shoulders. “Perhaps a celebratory drink first, hm?”

The Chieftain sat in his wooden throne and appraised the pair coldly. Like Eleanor and Lucio, his hair and eyes were light. Unlike Eleanor and Lucio, he was not smiling.

“My nephew perished in the last battle, why not write me?” The Chieftain asked.

“Right to the point, I see,” Lucio said, removing his arm and straightening up. “I thought it best to deliver the news myself, since we were already homebound.”

The Chieftain slammed his fist into the arm of his throne, making his attendant startle. Lucio and Eleanor were unphased. “You didn’t want me to know he died, because you didn’t want me to withhold the award,” the Chieftain deduced. 

All the friendliness left Lucio’s and Eleanor’s faces. Eleanor opened up even more, raising her chin and squaring her shoulders. She knew she was intimidating, even to a much larger man.

“Boys die in war, Chief, there’s no avoiding it,” Lucio said, voice deeper. “Your soldiers were a circus, and now they’re a proper army. We won your war. We did what you hired us for.”

“I also hired you to make my nephew into a general,” the Chieftain said. “There will be no payment.”

Lucio made a show of adjusting his fur cloak, resting his hand on the hilt of his blood-seasoned sword. “I implore you to reconsider.”

“You would threaten me in my own house?”

“Me? Noooo,” Lucio crooned. “I’m not the one you should be scared of. Eleanor, he wants a show.”

Eleanor’s eyes ignited with a fearsome white light, and she thumped the foot of her staff on the wooden floor. Massive flames burst into life on the room’s perimeter, blocking the guards as they tried to rush in. Her long, golden hair waved in the heat of the flames. The Chief pressed back into his chair, speechless, eyes wide and shining in the orange light. Fire had always been Eleanor’s specialty, despite how it haunted her nightmares. 

“Chief, if you fail to pay us, we will burn down your village and pillage what remains,” Lucio said matter-of-fact, unperturbed by the raging blaze. 

“You wouldn’t! There are children!”

“Children often die in war,” Lucio went on. “What’s your decision?”

“I’ll pay! I’ll pay! The chest is there! Just take it!”

Lucio strolled lazily towards the chest that the Chief indicated. He open the lid, looked inside, then closed it again, apparently satisfied. “It’ll do,” Lucio decided. Eleanor waved her hand, and the chest hovered above the ground, following Lucio as he walked back towards the Chief.

“That’s enough, Ellie,” he said, and Eleanor thumped her staff again. The flames vanished, though they had already left charred damage on the house.

“Stay in touch, Chief,” Lucio said as he threw an arm around Eleanor again, and together they left the long house. Their treasure chest followed behind. 

As they stepped outside, the light faded from Eleanor’s eyes. “You, my dear, are my crown jewel,” Lucio praised her. “What a fierce woman you’ve become!”

Eleanor tipped her chin up, face lit with pride. “I was taught by a fierce warrior.”

Their eyes met, silver and steel, and a new feeling passed between them. Their relationship had suddenly changed, and they both noticed it. Eleanor looked away, mysteriously bashful.

“Everything went well?” Julian asked, breaking the tension.

“Perfectly,” Lucio said. “He was so pleased, he gave us a bonus.”

“Let’s go have drinks!” Eleanor suggested.

“Drinks!” Lucio cheered.

“And get into fights!” Eleanor added.

“Fights!” Lucio agreed.

“You know I love a rowdy time,” Julian said, smiling wickedly.

Lucio threw his other arm around Julian, and the trio of mercenaries went looking for trouble.


	2. The Two Tribesmen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer time, and the living's easy. The apprentice makes a move.

“Ellie, you look far-away,” Julian said, interrupting Eleanor’s thoughts. She had been lost in her memories; visions of her parents and siblings, the blaze that had consumed them. She was fiddling with her necklace, twisting the modest garnet on it’s golden chain. Lucio had chosen it for her from a chest of spoils, insisting that red was her color.

She snapped back to the present, releasing the pendent. “Then sit down, Jules, and keep me grounded.”

“Where’s Lucio?” Julian asked, taking a seat beside Eleanor. The boy was nervous, she could tell. He was drumming his fingers on his tankard.

“He was just here,” Eleanor half-shouted over the loud chatter of the tavern. She glanced back and forth, but didn’t spot him. 

“Oh well, he can take care of himself.”

Eleanor laughed. “Barely!”

Eleanor drained the last of her beer and slammed her pint on the bar. She was determined to spend as much time drinking as possible, to chase away the questions from her past. It was summertime, and every southerner was celebrating the warmth while it lasted. The crew was now between missions, but Lucio had been keeping his ear to the ground. Supposedly the elderly Count of Vesuvia was having issues with pirates, and his guards needed a little help. 

“Ellie, listen,” Julian began.

“Come closer, I can’t hear you,” Eleanor replied.

Julian leaned close to Eleanor; so close that his cheek touched hers. “I just wanted to say you look lovely tonight, like you always do.”

“You don’t look so rough yourself, Doc,” Eleanor whispered back, made even bolder by the beer. Her face was flushed, though it was hard to see in the dim light of the tavern. Julian had watched Eleanor attack men for so much as looking at her the wrong way, but she liked Julian. His confidence was coming back to him.

“Did I ever tell you why I became a doctor?”

“No, tell me now.”

Julian, finally forgetting his nerves, took Eleanor’s hand in his own and eased her palm open. Despite her harsh lifestyle, her hands were still lovely and feminine. Julian’s were large, with long, clever fingers. 

“I always thought the human body was amazing,” he explained. “Just look at your hand. It’s a mechanical wonder. A marvel of engineering.”

“It really is,” she agreed, letting him play with her fingers. “I bet you could name every bone in the body.”

“Indeed I can. My knowledge is… extensive,” he slid his hand further up her arm, raising goosebumps. 

“You could probably teach me a thing or two.”

Lucio stepped back into the tavern, having just spoken with someone about the Vesuvian Count. It seemed there was finally a lead, and the promised reward was too almost good to imagine. Lucio could imagine a lot.

He pushed through a group of Prakran merchants, eager to tell Eleanor and Julian the good news. When he saw them together, his heart stopped. They were close enough to be kissing, whispering like school children. Julian placed his hand on Eleanor’s knee, and Lucio wanted to explode. 

He cut through the crowd like a knife, needing to put himself between the two of them. His pulse was pounding in his head. 

“Lucio,” called Julian, pulling away from Eleanor. “Ellie was just telling me about your lead.”

“I bet she was,” Lucio snarled, putting a protective hand on her shoulder.

“Whoa, temper temper,” chided Eleanor. 

“We actually need to chat for a second, about the lead,” Lucio said, barely regaining his composure. 

Julian glanced between the two tribesmen, perplexed. “I”ll just wait here, then.”

“You do that, darling,” Lucio snipped. “Ellie, let’s step outside.”

Eleanor and Julian exchanged a shrug as she let Lucio pull her away. Outside, there was a pleasant breeze, and the night sky was clear. A full moon illuminated the southern village. 

“Lucio, what’s going on?” Eleanor demanded as he released her. “You’ve been acting really weird around me and Julian lately.”

“Ellie, listen, we’re professionals,” Lucio said sternly, tapping his foot. “You two have been behaving unprofessionally.”

“So what if we have?” Eleanor protested. “He’s the closest to my age of everyone on the crew, we just have fun playing around.”

“Well, it’s not classy and I won’t permit it.”

“Won’t permit it? So you’re the only one allowed to flirt with Julian?” Eleanor stood with her weight on one leg, hand resting on her hip. 

Lucio wasn’t much taller than Eleanor, but he was still tall enough to peer down his pointed nose at her. “I know him better. He’s too much of a mess for you.”

“So… he’s-what?” Eleanor sputtered, then her eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hands.

“What?” Lucio demanded. 

“You’re jealous!”

“I am not!” Lucio’s face was turning pink. “Ellie- you don’t- I could never-”

“I mean, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you like Jules that much.”

Lucio’s brain stopped running. “Huh?”

Eleanor looked down, trying to hide her disappointment. “We’re just goofing around, honestly. I can see why you like him, he’s tall.”

“I’m tall!”

She laughed. “Not as tall as Julian.”

It was true, but Lucio hadn’t noticed it until then. His pride was wounded. He turned away, so Eleanor couldn’t see him blushing. “Well, I don’t know what you see in him. He’s an idiot.”

“Luce, I’m really happy for you,” Eleanor told him, ever gracious. “I… I kinda thought that… ugh, nevermind.”

Lucio turned back to Eleanor, realization dawning on him. He cracked a wry smile. “No, go on. What did you think?”

She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away. She was just tipsy enough to be loose-lipped. “Well, I thought that something had… manifested… between us.”

“Awww Ellie,” Lucio cheered, ”Do you have a little crush on me?”

“No! Gross! Shut up!”

He tossed his arm around her shoulder, laughing as she hid her face. “It’s only natural, of course you look up to me. I’m devilishly handsome, to boot.”

“You are such an asshole!”

“A very pretty one, you have to admit.”

Eleanor pushed him away. “You’re a lot older than me.”

Lucio watched her intently. “I am,” he said.

“God, I’m stupid.”

“ _You’d be stupid not find me attractive,_ ” he told her in suomean, their mother tongue.

She glanced at him, surprised and comforted by the sound of her language, then quickly looked away again. Lucio put one hand on the wall behind her, taking the garnet pendant in his other. He should have known it was special to her; she wore it every time the crew went out. It sat just above her breasts, giving an excuse to steal a peek. On nights like these, when she abandoned her heavy armor, Lucio was always surprised by the hourglass of her figure.

“ _I’m surprised you kept this, I thought it wasn’t your taste,_ ” Lucio said.

“ _Red looks good on me, you were right,_ ” she replied, still looking away. He had been this close to her many times, but now she had nothing to distract from his powerful physique. Her heart hammered in her chest, begging her to reach forward and touch him. The air between them seemed scalding.

“ _Of course, my star, I’m always right._ ”

Eleanor lifted her golden head, confronting his wolfish smile. She didn’t know if he shared her feelings, or if he was just teasing. She did know, however, that if anything were to ever happen, she had to initiate.

She placed a hand on the back of his neck and pulled him towards her for a kiss. It was quick, testing. When she pulled away and her steely eyes fluttered open, she studied him, waiting for his reaction. A second passed.

Lucio dropped his arm and kissed her again, fiercer this time. Her mouth followed his, lips moving in harmony, guide by instinct. He pulled her closer by the waist. She threw her arms around his neck. He delighted in the softness of her torso, and the feeling of the muscle just underneath. He could tell from the rise in her breath that she wanted more. He did, too.

“Lucio,” Eleanor gasped when he pulled away, still holding her waist. “It's not a little crush. Don't play with me.”

He cupped her cheek. “Haven't I always told you how amazing you are? That you're the best thing I've ever found, in all my years of this work? How much I want to impress you?”

Indeed, a lot love had always existed between them. Many beautiful men and women had breezed through Lucio’s life, but he’d always gotten tired of them. It was Eleanor, he knew, that he wanted to be with forever. It was only the romance that was new.

Eleanor nodded. “But Lucio, I've never…. Um…”

“What?”

She looked at him imploringly.

“Oh. Ohh. Wait, how old are you?” Lucio was taken aback, and felt guiltier than he was usually prone to. He was a little old to be someone's first lover. 

“I’ve been following you around for the past four or five years, it's not like I had much free time.”

“I guess I kept you busy.”

“Oh my god, the constant drills, the training, the shenanigans! Do you know what it’s like being the only girl in a group of old people?”

“Old people!”

“I had to babysit while the rest you got drunk! That was so unfair.”

“It would be irresponsible if I let a teenager binge drink-”

“You are irresponsible.”

“-What sort of a guardian would I be?”

“Guardian! That’s not true anymore, is it?”

Lucio put his arm around Eleanor’s shoulders, and they both looked to the sky, considering the moon. His half embrace was such a familiar feeling after their years together. “Hasn’t been like that for a while,” he said.

“When did it change?”

He scratched his chin, pensive. “Remember when I broke my collar bone, and the crew had to go to the Basnian Bay without me?”

She nodded. “To follow a lead,” she replied. “It was a trap. We got jumped by a rival crew.”

“When you came back, and Corvin told me how you took the lead, I realized you didn’t need me to lead you anymore.”

“You’re the Captain, we’ll always need you to lead us.”

“Well of course, but I mean through life. You weren’t my little ward anymore, you were my right hand. You’ll always be my right hand.”

“That’s so sweet.”

“What about you?”

“Remember a couple months ago, when we found the hot springs and we all stripped to our underwear and went swimming?”

“I do.”

Eleanor had already lost her buzz, but she was still blushing. “I uhh… caught you checking me out.”

“Is that it?”

“And I liked it.”

Lucio snickered and shook his head. “Mine was so romantic.”

“No, really! That’s how I knew you didn’t see me as a kid anymore.”

“I wish you’d kept your clothes on, I had to fight Corvin.”

“That’s what that was about?”

“Yeah, yeah, to keep the team straight, you know?”

“Right,” she said, voice full of sarcasm. She knew Lucio didn’t like to share anything, and that he was prone to respond with violence. They were both like that. 

They fell silent, eyes turned back to the starry sky. The tavern was loud, but it that moment, they felt as if they were they only people in the world. Everything was theirs.

“Let’s get really drunk and make out in front of everyone,” Eleanor said.

“That’ll show Julian for flirting with us!”

“Yeah!”

“No one will ever look at you again!”

“They don’t anyways, they know I’d kill them.”

“Well now there’s two of us!”

Eleanor cheered. “Two!”


	3. A Pair of Lovers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucio and The Apprentice have a wild night on the town.

“What a town!” Lucio exclaimed.

“What a night!” Eleanor cheered.

The two were stumbling their way to the next pub, thrown out for cheating at cards. It was early autumn, Eleanor’s favorite season. She felt as high as the Vesuvian moon and twice as beautiful.

“Where’d Jules go?” Lucio wondered, bumping against Eleanor. She stumbled to the side, nearly tripping.

“Jules this, Jules that, you’re gonna make me jealousss,” Eleanor said.

“What if I did? What would you do about it?”

Eleanor hooked her arm around Lucio, sliding her hand into his belt loop. “I’d remind you both who’s in charge around here.”

“Sounds like a great time to me.”

“Ooo, in here!”

They passed through an open door, following the sound of laughter. The pub was dimly lit, but a little classier than the last establishment. It was a merchant-class crowd, diverse and colorful. They spoke a song of languages.

“This place is stuffy,” Lucio said as he chose a table. “Barmaid! Two ales over here!”

Eleanor sat in his lap, draping one arm across his neck. “Surely we can liven it up a little.”

“An excellent idea, these people aren’t having enough fun yet.” The barmaid set their drinks before them. Lucio touched her arm. “I’m buying everyone here a shot.”

“Just one?” Eleanor goaded.

“Make that two!” Lucio said, giving the woman a generous pile of coins. She winked as she walked away. Eleanor bristled, but didn’t let it show.

“Have to spend the blood money somehow,” she said, tugging on the heavy, golden chain around Lucio’s neck.

“What better way, than to give it back to the people?”

She laughed, seized his face, and gave him a kiss, oblivious to the nearby patrons. They were scornful until the barmaid brought them their shots.

When Eleanor released him, Lucio raised his tankard. “To Vesuvia!”

“To Vesuvia!” The patrons echoed.

Everyone drank. The bar was now a little louder. 

Eleanor was drunk, but she always had her wits about her. She scanned the crowd of merchants, observing each one carefully. Her eyes settled on a dark-skinned woman from the far north, who wore her wealth in silks and gems. Her companion was much lighter, and platinum blonde. 

“Oh yes,” the man was saying, “The whole village, burnt to the ground. I was just passing through, you know.”

“How tragic,” the woman said. “Was it an attack?”

“Maybe. It was definitely magic,” he replied. “It was raining all night. The ground was still wet.”

“Ellie, you know, I know a magic trick or two,” Lucio said, trying to win back her attention. He hadn’t heard what she did.

Eleanor tore her focus away from the conversation. “You do?”

“I could show you sometime.”

“Clever boy, does it have to do with making something grow?”

“That’s more your doing than mine.”

She chuckled, kissed him again, and slid from his lap. She gulped the rest of her ale, then reached for Lucio’s.

“Not enough a party for you? What can I do?” 

She gave him a sly smile. “You know what would really make my night good?”

“What’s that?”

“The blonde gentleman at the bar is pretty handsome, don’t you think?”

His jaw was set in anger, but he spoke normally. “Not as handsome as me.”

“Or as strong, my darling.”

“Shall I seduce him for you?”

Eleanor laughed. “I could never share you. You’re mine.”

“Yours alone,” he purred, kissing her jaw. Her giggle was music to his ears.

“But look at his earrings,” She went on.

“Onyx and gold. Quite nice.”

“They’re my style. I want them.”

Lucio grinned. He knew that Eleanor was more than capable of taking them herself. “Then you’ll have them. Should I buy them, or fight for them?”

“That’s up to you.”

“Shouldn’t take me too long.” He rose, gave her a kiss, and crossed the floor.

Eleanor used her elbow to prop her head up on the table, watching the scene unfold before her. Lucio touched the gentleman’s shoulder so that he turned, then punched him in the face. The woman shrieked. The other patrons were hollering.

Lucio grabbed the front of the unconscious southerner’s robe and threw him on top of the bar, face up. Somebody grabbed Lucio’s arm to hold him back. Lucio whirled around, grabbed the assailant by the hair, and smashed his head into the bar. “Ouch,” said Eleanor.

“Someone call the guards, the guards!” The woman screamed. 

It would’ve been much easier just to buy them, but Lucio wanted to ruin the younger man’s ‘handsome’ face. He was filled with rage every time Eleanor found another person interesting, and it was a fight to control his temper. He’d take any excuse to hurt such a person.

Two large people, a man and a woman, grabbed Lucio from behind, but it still wasn’t enough to move him. He stomped the man’s foot and threw his elbow back, into his gut. The man released Lucio, doubled over. 

Lucio seized the woman by the arm and twisted himself behind her, forcing her to the knees. Lucio pushed his foot between her shoulder blades and pulled her arm back, until he felt her shoulder pop out of the socket. Her screech was unbearable. She scrambled away when Lucio released her.

The man came at Lucio again. Lucio caught him in a one-armed headlock, and picked up someone’s half-finished beer. He checked to make sure Eleanor was still watching. She waved at him and bit her lower lip. He had a fighter’s body, and watching him use it never failed to turn her on. 

Lucio winked, drank half the beer, and dumped the rest on the trapped man. The man sputtered and coughed. Then Lucio smashed the empty glass over the man’s head and dropped him. He didn’t move from where he laid. 

Lucio finally came back to the unconscious southerner, content that no one else would try to stop him. He ripped the man’s earrings out of his ears, spraying blood across counter. Most of the patrons watched, in shock, as Lucio strolled back to Eleanor, knelt before her, and dropped the earrings into the pouch on her thigh. “Better wash those off first,” he said, then kissed her cheek. He wasn’t even out of breath.

She wore a pert little smile. “Shall we move on, then?”

He offered her his arm, and she accepted. They left the bar as if nothing had happened.

“You got blood on yourself,” Eleanor said, wiping some from his face.

“Did I?”

“So messy.”

“You’ll have to help me wash up.” 

They stopped walking. Eleanor gripped Lucio by the front of his jacket and smiled up at him. “No time to waste, then. Let’s go back to the palace.”

“Already?”

“And stop for more drinks on the way, of course.”

“You’re full of good ideas tonight.”

The Vesuvian Count was letting the crew stay in the palace while they worked with the guards. Lucio and Eleanor had already spoken with the Count about better pay and frequent raises, which would motivate the troops. They also needed to be fed better, to keep their strength up. The Count was stingy with his money, but only when it came to others. He hoarded it in his treasury while his subject fought for scraps.

The pair could barely walk by the time they bar-hopped back to the palace. Lucio, being the more seasoned drinker, had to support the laughing Eleanor as they made their way up to the room.

“They should build this place even bigger,” Eleanor said as they went through the stone halls. “It needs more light. More color.”

“Anything you want is yours,” Lucio replied. They entered their room, and he deposited Eleanor in the four poster bed.

She grabbed him by the collar, trying to pull him on top of her, but he resisted. “I thought you had tricks to show me,” she slurred.

Lucio only kissed her forehead. “You’re too drunk for that.”

Eleanor let herself sink into the bed, frustrated. He began untying her boots, while she was absorbed in her thoughts. Her mind was as shapeless and wandering as she hoped it would be, and there was no tension in her battle-tested body. Sex usually did the trick, too.

“Let’s get these off,” Lucio said, reaching for Eleanor’s trousers. Undoing her belt was a challenge.

“Frisky,” she mumbled, already drifting away.

“Did you really think the southerner was handsome?” Lucio asked her.

“Of course not,” Eleanor replied, twisting around to get more comfortable. “You’re better. He was scrawny.”

“Hmm.” He said. His feelings were obviously hurt.

“You know I’m yours.”

Lucio gave her thigh a gentle smack, delighted by how it jiggled. He sank his fingers into the soft flesh, feeling for the muscle beneath. Without her clothes, he could see all the bruises and hickies he’d left on her pale skin. Some were accidental, from when he was feeling especially rough. Others were deliberate signatures. “Mine,” he growled. “All mine.”

The next morning, Eleanor woke and immediately ran for a bucket. Lucio didn’t stir while she violently emptied her stomach. She shivered against the stone floor, weak and exhausted. As soon as she worked up the strength for it, she wiped her face and swished water through her mouth. It was a rare long-skirt kind of day, since it was the easiest to pull on. Once half-presentable, she went looking for Julian.

She found his room and entered without knocking. “Julian!” She announced, knowing he was heavy sleeper.

“Ellie,” he murmured as he stretched. When he sat up, The blankets fell away from his bare chest. Eleanor noted the he was thinner than Lucio, but still lean. He didn’t seem awake enough to be embarrassed.

“I need something for a hangover,” she told him.

“And you couldn’t knock? Give me a second.” 

The young doctor rolled out of bed, moving too slowly for Eleanor’s liking. She had to find a bucket again while he sorted through his medical supplies, eventually choosing a bottle of something bubbly. 

“Ellie, you’ve been coming to me like this a lot lately,” he said.

She wiped her mouth roughly. Her voice was dangerous. “What about it?”

Julian would’ve been intimidated if she wasn’t so obviously compromised. He passed her the bottle. “I’m worried about you,” he said. “As your doctor, and your friend.”

Eleanor swallowed the familiar dose. “You know I can’t sleep without a drink.”

“I know, but you’re going to tear yourself apart.” 

She jabbed her finger in his chest. “What I do to this body is nobody's business but mine.”

“You’re right,” he said, unphased. “It’s still hard to watch.”

“I don’t need this,” she grumbled, stomping out of his room. 

Lucio was still sleeping when she returned to their room. At the sight of him, Eleanor’s rotten mood faded. His sleeping face was peaceful, devoid of his usual smolders and scowls. The medicine was already working, but she still felt exhausted.

Lucio woke when she crawled in next to him, seeking the comfort of his torso. Like he slept every night, he was naked. Eleanor was still fully clothed. He nestled his head beneath her arm, needing her attention. She was always happy to give it.

“My head hurts,” he whined. “Pet my hair?”

She did as he requested, running her fingers through the soft locks. She relaxed even further, touching him with loving hands. He was only this tender in the morning, yet to arm himself for the violent world. Eleanor was the only person who knew this side of him.

“Why do you take such good care of me?” he asked. She felt his jaw move against her chest when he spoke.

“The same reason why you stay up with me when I can’t sleep.”

“Because you love me?”

“Because I love you.”

They fell silent. The day was still young and quiet. Neither wanted to speak or move, for fear of ruining the rare peace. Eleanor, melancholic, wished it could be that way just a little more often.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to know what Eleanor and Lucio get up to next, "A Rough Morning" is the extension of this chapter. Be warned, it's explicit.


	4. Nothing Answered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew pushes through heavy loses, promised a fabulous reward. Eleanor's demons catch up with her.

“Ellie, come back to bed,” Lucio whined. “The tent’s colder without you.”

It was late autumn, and the crew was tracking down that pirates that were harassing Vesuvia. The trade-offs had been steep; they’d lost Julian and several city guards in an attempted ambush last month. Now, they were on their way to the pirate’s home-port, where they would finally put an end to it all. They’d been on the same chase for two years.

Eleanor was prone to nightmares, but lately they had become stranger. Eleanor was the lone survivor of a blaze that consumed her humble fishing village. Fire couldn’t hurt her, so she didn’t wake until her burning bed broke beneath her. She must’ve been twelve, then.

Years later, Lucio taught her, through discipline, to defeat her phobia and pursue her gifts. Now that the fire didn’t scare her, she could see the questions that laid beyond it. She often thought of the southerner Lucio had assaulted so long ago, just because she didn’t want to hear him talk about the fire. Was she really the only one left? Where did the fire come from? How could it have caught, when it had been raining all night?

“Ellie,” Lucio said again.

“Hm? Sorry,” she replied, waking from her trance. “Nightmares again.”

Lucio rested his hands on her shoulders, began to gently rub. At his touch, Eleanor’s tension melted away. “Let’s go to bed,” he said.

Eleanor shook her head, barely visible in the moonless night. “I don’t think I can sleep, I’ll just keep you up.”

She couldn’t see it, but Lucio grinned. “I wouldn’t mind being kept up.”

She sighed when his lips touched her neck. The dark shielded them from the prying eyes of their remaining crew. Lucio could be a selfish lover, but he still liked to please. His woman’s satisfaction stoked the flames of his ego.

“What do you dream about?” She asked him, not yet distracted enough.

“Gold, mostly,” Lucio mumbled into her neck. “Golden statues of me. You’re there too, of course. We’re both covered in expensive things.”

She liked the sound of that. “And we’ll have a huge garden,” she added.

“Absolutely huge, for parties like the world has never seen. We’ll be young and beautiful forever.”

She smiled, picturing their lavish lifestyle. “And we’ll have all sorts of animals.”

“We’ll have an exotic zoo,” he replied, “every creature under the sun.”

She rose to her knees and cupped his face. “And there’ll be a beautiful library.”

“Anything you want, my star.”

Eleanor’s fingers wove through his platinum hair as she crept into his lap. Damp grass soaked into their clothes, but they were too high on each other to care. He pulled her against him by the front of her shirt. Their wanting mouths met in the darkness, as if following a string. Lucio’s tongue ran along the inside of her lower lip. His grip on her shirt was so tight that it threatened to tear. 

They half crawled, half rolled back into their tent, bodies hot with desire. Lucio pulled all of Eleanor’s clothes off before she’d even reached for his silk robe. When she pulled it away, she found his familiar muscle; his arms ribbed with veins. 

Eleanor too, was muscular, just beneath a layer of softness. She didn’t bear as many battle scars as he did; not for lack of trying. The way they made love was much like the way they fought; ruthless, daring, and wild. They wrestled each other for control.

She fell against him, exhausted. The tent was hot and and humid. Their hearts hammered against each other as they came back down. Lucio knew Eleanor needed a few moments before she’d be able to weave sentences together. He twirled a piece of her hair around his finger, a smug grin on his face.

From where he lay, he had a good view of her back, bruised up from his fingers and teeth. He had enough respect not to leave them anywhere they could be seen, though he was tempted every time. His favorite place to leave them was on her delicate inner thigh, where they lasted for weeks on the translucent skin. Eleanor had left similar marks on him, sometimes more visible than she intended. He teased her over it, but he wore them proudly. 

“You tore my shirt again,” she finally mumbled. Her voice was soft and sweet; a stark contrast to her usual contralto. 

“I’ll buy you two new ones.”

“You owe me a million by now.”

“You wear mine most of time, anyways.”

She pressed her lips against him where she laid; a lazy kiss to his chest. “They smell like you.”

“They won’t anymore if you keep wearing them.”

He was complaining, but Eleanor knew that he liked it. It was one more way to show that she was his. “I love you,” she whispered, her eyes closed.

“I love you,” he echoed. “You’re not already falling asleep, are you?”

She barely shook her head.

“Liar, yes you are.”

“Am not.”

“Are too!”

She sprang to life, catching his wrists and pinning them behind him. Her knees were on either side of his torso. “Are you trying to start a fight?”

“Me? Never.”

She straightened up and crossed her arms. “Good. I would win anyways.”

“Oh, you think so?”

She raised her chin. “I know so.”

Lucio jumped up and tackled her to the ground, where she squealed in delight. She cried with laughter as he trapped her beneath him and tickled her sides. Just when she couldn’t take anymore, he descended on her ravenously, tasting the tender skin of her neck. She moaned and squirmed in place, still trapped by the wrists.

When morning finally came, Lucio walked with a little more pride than usual. Eleanor, however, was dwelling her dreams again. Her quiet wasn’t unnoticed by Lucio; she’d been like that often lately. He didn’t ask why, partly because he knew she’d talk when she was ready, and partly because he didn’t want to disturb the harmony they lived in.

She didn't tell Lucio, but Eleanor did miss Julian, and thought of him often. The days of travel seemed longer without him, and the medic that replaced him lacked his skill and his wit. Julian had told Eleanor more than once that she should take some time away, to focus on her mental and emotional health. She had dismissed it every time, but now that he was gone, she felt it keenly. She needed a break.

“Lucio,” she told him as they laid together the next night, “I want to investigate what happened to my village.”

“But why? Wasn’t it fate that brought us together? Aren’t you happy with me?” He knew it was coming, but that make him any happier about it.

“I am but… I have to know what happened.”

Lucio rolled over so he faced away from her. “Suit yourself then. Go digging up old wounds.”

“Luce,” she said, wrapping her arms around him. “I keep drinking and fighting and having sex to distract myself from it, but something is missing.”

“What’s so terrible about drinking and fighting and having sex? Those are the best things.”

“Nothing is! I just… wonder if I’m taking advantage of them. If I’m taking advantage of you.”

Lucio didn’t answer, instead pretending to be asleep. He and Eleanor lived in their perfect little world, the King and Queen of everything. Why would she want to change that, when they were so close to making it?

Eleanor sighed and rolled away. She should’ve known that he would react defensively. Now that he was angry, she couldn’t use sex to ignore what was bothering her. She would be half awake all night, visited by strange figures. A bull-headed figure had always frequented her dreams, his eyes unfathomable and wise. He tried to whispered things to Eleanor, but her power were less mystical than other magicians. She knew he was an Arcana, but she didn't know which one. She'd never owned a tarot deck.

“I love you, Lucio,” she said.

He didn’t say it back. She knew he was just trying to hurt her, but it still stung.

Eleanor thought of Julian again, wondering if he was alive. He’d often warned her about drinking too much. She was finally ready to admit that he was right, but it was hard to slow down when you were with someone like Lucio. She couldn’t ask him to change, not when he was so close to having everything he ever wanted.

They didn’t speak much the following morning. Lucio could hold a grudge longer than anyone she knew, whereas Eleanor never stayed angry for long. After setting up the next night’s camp, most of the crew went into town to find a bar. Eleanor, for the first time in years, didn’t join. She packed her things quietly and waited for Lucio to return.

When Lucio finally stumbled back, Eleanor was seated on the ground outside their tent. She was fiddling with her garnet necklace, wondering whether she should take it. She didn’t have anything to remember her family by, but she could at least have something to remember Lucio.

“Ellie, darling,” he greeted, seemingly over the last night’s argument. She wasn’t sure whether it would be harder or easier when he was drunk.

“Lucio,” she said as she stood. The tone of her voice gave him pause. He noticed the bags on the ground, and her saddled-up horse.

“What’s going on?”

“I’m leaving.”

He was frozen, unable to process what she was saying.

“I’m going to find out what happened to my home,” she went on. 

Lucio blinked, still stuck in place. “But, why?”

“I have to stop running from my past. I need answers.”

He looked at her face, so calm despite the sea of emotions inside her. It was this apparent calm that revived him. “What about our palace!” he exclaimed. “Our plan! Don’t you want all that? Me? The riches? The zoo?”

“Of course I do!” she cried, “but I’ll never be able to enjoy it without knowing what happened to my family! I’ll drink myself to death before I ever can!”

“I thought I was your family! You and me, Ellie. You and me forever.”

“You don’t know how much I want that.” Her voice was rising, thick with suppressed tears.

“Not as much as I do, apparently. Did you ever want it all?”

“More than anything, Lucio.”

“Then why now? It could all be ours, we’re so close.”

She started for her horse, away from Lucio. “It might not be forever, but it can’t wait anymore.”

“I can’t be without you.”

She was cold. “You’ll have to.”

“Ellie, wait, please.” He grabbed her by the arm, but she shook him off. “You would stay if you loved me.”

She finally stopped and turned back to him. “I do love you,” she said. “That’s why I can’t keep using you.”

He took her hands and knelt before her. “You can use me up until I’m dead, Ellie, I don’t care.”

She tried to pull away, but he held on. “Luce, the way we live just isn’t healthy.”

“I can change! I can be better. If you need a peaceful man, I’ll be a peaceful man.”

Eleanor chewed her lip. If she didn’t leave, neither of them would ever really change. Maybe they would stop drinking for a while, maybe they’d live more peacefully, but as long as they were together, they would always return to their old habits. 

“Please don’t leave, Ellie, please. When we finish this, we’ll go where you want to go. We’ll give up fighting. We’ll give up drinking.”

Lucio would never beg if he was sober. He’d never looked so vulnerable as he was then, ruining his luxurious clothes in the mud, eyes red with tears. She couldn’t bear to see him like that.

She nodded. “Okay Lucio, I’ll stay.”

He jumped to his feet, ecstatic. “You will? Of course you will!”

He covered her face in kisses, too relieved to notice her dark expression. She let him lead her back into the tent, where the unwrapped each other like gifts. They were different that night; gentler. Lucio kissed ever mark he’d ever given her, tender and reverent. He tried to show her that he loved her, that he could be kind.

As he drifted away, Lucio held onto her like a child, like he was afraid that she’d leave in the night. Eleanor pet his hair until he fell asleep, both weeping silently, unbeknownst to the other. She did love him. She did want to stay with him forever.

When Lucio woke in the early morning, she was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We might see more of Lucio and Eleanor. If you enjoyed this work, leave kudos and/or a comment. Thanks for reading!


End file.
